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GOOD SAMARITAN

JUST a few lines to thank The Northern Echo for your continued support in the Richard Neale saga. People never remember the name of a Good Samaritan, only the good deed that was done. Many people will remember the name of Sheila Wright-Hogeland regarding the Richard Neale saga. She has campaigned tirelessly for the victims over the years. She is without doubt the group's Good Samaritan, who once again is determined to challenge the type of inquiry into Neale which is totally unacceptable.

On behalf of the group, I thank Sheila and The Northern Echo for their help. Many parties will benefit from the above achievements.

- Graham Maloney, advisor to Neale victims.

BRILLIANT SHOW

FOR more years than I care to remember I have been teaching A Midsummer Night's Dream to young people, but it took Wednesday night's performance of the play by The Castle Players to make me really see its true artistic integrity. Yes, I knew it was a comedy, a fanciful romance, but, I thought, that was merely it.

There were elements in the production which showed why, nearly 500 years after the playwright's death, we still can become richer by watching his work. The play was vibrant with colour and remarkably clear in the delivery. In fact I cannot do the usual list of who was particularly 'good' as the production had an evenness to it which in itself is unusual: all the main characters were strong, engaging and at home with their personas. What came across so strongly to me was the fact that we need to be able to laugh at ourselves.

The splendid performance ended with mellow music and dazzling pyrotechnics, but last of all, in the vastness of the Bowes Museum's gardens, in the gathering darkness, we were left with a clear solitary human voice bidding us farewell. The dream lives. - Cassie Flint, Montalbo Road, Barnard Castle

UNSYMPATHETIC

HOUGHTON Residents Against Toxic Site (RATS) is a group of residents in Houghton-le- Spring, halfway between Sunderland and Durham, which is concerned about the environmental damage, particularly to the aquifers (water-bearing rocks) posed by a landfill site within our small town.

These aquifers extend into North Yorkshire. The landfill accepts materials which are a danger to health. Unfortunately we have found the Environment Agency appears totally unsympathetic to our worries and unhelpful to us. It does not appear to be acting as an agency set up to protect the environment. We are now trying to find out whether other people in the North-East have similar problems. If any reader has experiences of dealing with the Environment Agency, good or bad, we would be grateful for any information. - Sheila Ellis, Secretary, Houghton RATS, 6A Church Street, Houghton-le-Spring

LOOKING GOOD

DARLINGTON must be the best town in the North. The town centre is an example to all in cleanliness. The buildings and shops a careful blend of the old and new, the floral displays truly eye-catching. I wish the council all the best in the Britain in Bloom contest. On top of the town's excellent image and reputation it has the new football stadium to look forward to and two recent lottery winners. I wish my council would pay a visit. - Joe Wellthorpe, North Ormesby.

ENJOY LIFE

HOW sad to see the letter from EA Moralee (HAS, Jul 6). To believe in life after death is to have no understanding of the value of life itself. Given the number of eggs and sperm available in human reproduction, it is easy to calculate that the chance of one's being conceived is infinitely unlikely.

To suggest that there is life after death is untenable. The idea begs simple questions such as where will all the people that have ever lived gather together after death - the Earth is not big enough for the existing population of humans.

How would a stillborn baby fit into this scheme? Or the insane, the mutilated, the murderer, the dictator, the paedophile?

When would humans have been given life after death? With Neanderthal Man? With Cro-Magnon Man? Earlier? Later? After Jesus' death? What about people with different religions? Would they not be allowed in, no matter how good they were?

Life is to be enjoyed, so make the most of it. It is no dress rehearsal. - Ashley Renham, Middleton-in-Teesdale.

NOT SO

HUGH Pender (HAS Jul 7) accuses the Countryside Alliance of being 'disillusioned Tories'. The facts would suggest otherwise. The Alliance president, Ann Mallalieu, is a life-long member of the Labour Party and daughter of a Labour government minister. The chairman is John Jackson, a dedicated Fabian, and the chief executive, Richard Burge, is a life-long member of the Labour Party, the son of Jim Callaghan's campaign manager and a member of the Government's Rural Task Force.

Mr Pender also holds farmers entirely responsible for the foot-and-mouth outbreak, which I'm afraid seems rather illogical.

Farmers have been struck by FMD at one of the lowest points in 60 years. The average UK farmer earned just £5,200 for the financial year to February 2001, agricultural borrowings are at an all time high, investment is at its lowest level since the 1970s, even the autumn flooding caused about half a billion pounds worth of damage to crops and farm buildings. The agricultural recession came about for many reasons, none of them directly the responsiblity of the farmers.

The Countryside Alliance works to defend rural livelihoods. We will work with the Government as far as possible to deliver this and we are confident that despite troubled times, farmer's will continue to respond to new policies and to the demands of the consumers. - John Haigh, Countryside Alliance Area Public Relations Officer, Thirsk.